Schertz and Fisc­her work to­geth­er so closely on com­mod­ity policy for the com­mit­tee that they have joked that they should have a joint e-mail ac­count un­der the name “Bert.”

After they took their boss, com­mit­tee Chair­man Frank Lu­cas, R-Okla., out for din­ner last year in Texas, he nick­named them “the bar­be­cue twins.”

This close work­ing re­la­tion­ship, which an­noys lob­by­ists who dis­agree with them on policy, began in 2003 when Schertz was the com­mit­tee’s in­tern co­ordin­at­or and found Fisc­her, one of that sum­mer’s in­terns, to be “bright and bold.” But in real­ity there was already a lot in com­mon in their back­grounds.

Schertz, 39, a seni­or Re­pub­lic­an staffer on the com­mit­tee, grew up on a farm in south Texas. He went to Texas Tech in Lub­bock on a live­stock-judging schol­ar­ship and, tak­ing a clue from his fath­er, a gov­ern­ment-re­la­tions ex­ec­ut­ive for a pub­lic elec­tric util­ity, in­terned sum­mers for both Re­pub­lic­an and Demo­crat­ic state le­gis­lat­ors in Aus­tin.

Schertz star­ted gradu­ate school in 2002 and came to Wash­ing­ton for an in­tern­ship with the House Ag­ri­cul­ture Com­mit­tee chair­man. Ex­cept for a four-year stint in the private sec­tor, he has stayed on the Hill.

Fisc­her, 33, the chief eco­nom­ist on the com­mit­tee, grew up on a farm in south­west­ern Ok­lahoma that has been in the fam­ily for five gen­er­a­tions. He stud­ied ag­ri­cul­tur­al eco­nom­ics at Ok­lahoma State Uni­versity and stayed on for a second bach­el­or’s in busi­ness ad­min­is­tra­tion with a double ma­jor in ac­count­ing and fin­ance.

After his in­tern­ship on the com­mit­tee, Fisc­her went to Cam­bridge Uni­versity in Eng­land, where he got a mas­ter’s de­gree in land eco­nomy. Fisc­her notes that he spent that year study­ing en­vir­on­ment­al policy and try­ing to un­der­stand how people without an ag­ri­cul­ture back­ground ap­proach policy. He also traveled the Con­tin­ent, send­ing Schertz a series of e-mails that began, “Greet­ings from across the pond.”

Fisc­her went to Texas A&M in 2008 to get a Ph.D., and had all but fin­ished when Lu­cas asked him to re­turn to the com­mit­tee in 2010 as chief eco­nom­ist. Fisc­her is on a leave of ab­sence, but said the 1,000-page farm bill will give him plenty of ma­ter­i­al for his dis­ser­ta­tion.

While the two work to­geth­er closely, there are some dif­fer­ences. Schertz, who is single, has lost 35 pounds dur­ing the stress of the drawn-out farm bill, while Fisc­her, who has a wife and child, said he has gone in the oth­er dir­ec­tion.

"Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Agency who has found himself and his agency at odds with the Trump administration in recent months, told staff members Tuesday that he is planning to step down from his post." The Obama administration holdover will step down on October 1.

Source:

HAD BEGUN TO PUBLICLY CRITICIZE TRUMP

Sen. Corker to Retire

1 hours ago

THE DETAILS

Another Republican member of Congress is showing himself out the door. After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018,” said Sen. Bob Corker in a statement. The Tennessean has served since 2006.

Source:

NOT ILLEGAL, BUT MUST BE FORWARDED TO WORK ACCOUNTS

At Least 6 WH Advisors Used Private Email Accounts

1 hours ago

THE LATEST

Jared Kushner, Stephen Bannon, Reince Priebus, Gary Cohn, Stephen Miller, and Ivanka Trump sent or received some emails on personal accounts that related to White House business. "Officials are supposed to use government emails for their official duties so their conversations are available to the public and those conducting oversight. But it is not illegal for White House officials to use private email accounts as long as they forward work-related messages to their work accounts so they can be preserved."

Source:

SAYS CONTACTS WERE “BENIGN”

Stone Releases Correspondence with Guccifer 2.0

2 hours ago

THE LATEST

"Roger Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to Donald Trump, released correspondence Tuesday" with the online hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 , which "U.S. intelligence agencies said was used by Russian government-linked entities to distribute embarrassing information about Democrats during the 2016 election. The disclosures came in a 47-page opening statement made available to reporters in advance of Mr. Stone’s Tuesday appearance in front of the House Intelligence Committee." Stone called his contacts with Guccifer "limited" and "benign."

Source:

PRIEBUS, SPICER, HICKS, MCGAHAN

Mueller Could Start Interviewing White House Figures This Week

2 hours ago

THE LATEST

"Special counsel investigators could start interviewing current and former White House staff as soon as later this week regarding the Russian probe, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. One source cautioned it is still being worked out with Robert Mueller's office and said it might be delayed until next week." Among those who could have a sit-down with the special prosecutor: former chief of staff Reince Priebus, former press secretary Sean Spicer, communications director Hope Hicks, White House counsel Don McGahn, communications adviser Josh Raffel and associate counsel James Burnham.